Guardians of the Galaxy - 3.5 Stars

Marvel launches into the world of comedy in their latest picture!

The opening of the film was rather shocking and the whole audience was immediately hooked. For a Marvel movie it certainly had a depressing beginning, but after the first 5 minutes it became exceptionally comical. The huge transition in styles didn’t sit quite right for me, but as the film progressed it became a very enjoyable movie.

The cast overall was strong and one of the greatest features of the movie was the strong rapport between the Guardians. They all bounced off each other’s comic timing creating huge deafening laughs! Chris Pratt (Star-Lord) certainly delivered his humorous lines very well and his charisma seeped of the screen. I felt though at times he seemed to struggle to portray the more emotional scenes. Both Vin Diesel (Groot) and Bradley Cooper (Rocket) were strong and played the humorous scenes well, but it was Dave Bautista (Draux) who really stole the film. He managed to evolve his character from a maniac to a very human character with strong emotional connections to the other Guardians with very few lines.

One of the biggest let downs of the film was Karen Gillan as Nebula. While she didn’t have a very large role to work with she didn’t make any of the lines her own and brought nothing at all to the character. Other supporting actors included Glenn Close (Nova Prime) who gave a wonderful performance, Josh Brolin who excited Marvel fans with his performance as Thanos and Benicio Del Toro as The Collector who seems set to appear in upcoming films!

Like any Marvel film it was packed with cameos including Stan Lee, Nathan Fillion and James Gunn. Seth Green also lent his voice to a character who hasn't appeared on screen since 1986 and his appearance may be the biggest surprise in the whole film (make sure you stay to the end of the credits)!

The writing was consistent throughout the movie and maintained an entertaining pace. It seems the Guardians are already set to return in 2017 and while this wasn’t the best movie Marvel’s produced it certainly will entertain!